


Discussing A Hickey Over Breakfast

by MarshmalowMilkshake



Series: What Could Have Been (Critical Role oneshots) [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, One Shot, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship, widomauk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:22:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22183261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmalowMilkshake/pseuds/MarshmalowMilkshake
Summary: "The white lies they'd used were getting a bit ridiculous, while also somehow working. Molly wondered if the Traveler was helping them, only to see the chaos that would come when the others found out. It was becoming a more believable theory every time a lie worked.Because of that, Molly was sure Beau thought he occasionally worked at a brothel, and that Caleb wrote poorly written smut that no-one would ever see, even over his dead body.Molly and Caleb didn't think their dignity would survive much more of this."
Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast
Series: What Could Have Been (Critical Role oneshots) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952554
Comments: 5
Kudos: 229





	Discussing A Hickey Over Breakfast

Drinking in the tavern, Molly was grateful for the noise, for the heat of the bodies dancing, the light from the sconces on the walls. Molly hated caves, tunnels, underground in general. The cold, earthy silence or empty, echoing paths reminded him of the grave he'd woke up in. 

That precise moment was clear in his memory. He remembered digging for the surface, his lungs burning at the absence of air. He remembered the scrape of the dirt and rocks against his skin. The taste of dirt as he accidentally inhaled it. The moment his fingers broke through and met cold air. The strain of pulling himself out. The shock of the freezing air as it hit his face. The relief in his lungs as he gained breath. Shivering, on his hands and knees as he learned what it felt like to breathe. How his body shook as he tried to stand. The way gravel dug into his knees when he fell. Pushing himself up again. His shoulder slamming against a tree when he lost his balance, hands gripping the bark as his equilibrium tried to catch up.

He had been hyper aware in those first few moments, and then it had faded quickly, leaving him 'empty'.

Molly hated the absence of feeling. He _loved_ feeling. Even if it hurt, it was better than nothing. 

If he wanted to take pleasures, he did. If he wanted to feel free, he would be. If he wanted to be dangerous, he was. If he wanted to be kind, he knew how.

Lately, he'd been wanting something more permanent. All those things he'd been experiencing were temporary. They faded after a while. Sure, he could look back and recall what he had felt, but it was no longer with him. 

Perhaps, as he looked for something permanent, his eyes would drift. Perhaps they would settle on Caleb. And perhaps, blue eyes would meet red before they turned away.

Recently though, Molly wanted _meaning,_ and if that meant he was taking care of people, he was taking care of his people. So he set down his mostly drunken tankard, and walked over to where Caleb was trying to hide behind his. Or drown in it, but Molly preferred his wizard alive, _thankyouverymuch._ Caleb had stared into the fire too deeply earlier, and it had Molly worried.

The wizard subconsciously noticed Molly's approach, familiar with the steps, swish of the coat, and softly clinking jewelry. He wasn't startled when Molly set a hand on his shoulder, Or when Molly leaned in closer to his ear. He was however, surprised when Molly asked. "Dance with me?"

A light blush was spread across the wizard's cheeks, but Molly didn't know if it was because of him or the ale. Caleb nervously looked at the other dancers. "Don't worry, darling." Molly assured him. "Nothing's going to hurt you here."

After a moment, Caleb nodded once, and stood, his tankard left behind. Molly took Caleb's hands in his own, and the blush deepened, much to Molly's satisfaction. Although Molly lead him to the dancing, Caleb lead him through the dance itself.

Miraculously, after the song ended, Caleb didn't leave. He stayed for the next song, and the next, and the one after that. Sometimes Caleb lead, sometimes Molly, it really depended on what song it was. They danced until late, having noted that their friends left some time ago.

Eventually they decided to make it back to the inn. When they got outside the doors to their rooms, they both paused. Molly wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. He wasn't sure how to comfort the man. Caleb turned to him, opened his mouth to say something, closed it, opened it again, and closed it. Instead, the wizard took a step toward Molly, and let his head fall to rest on the tiefling's shoulder.

"Thank you." He murmured, and Molly heard. 

Molly leaned back, and took Caleb's face into his hands. His thumbs gently caressed the man's cheekbones. "I should be thanking you." 

Caleb's brows slightly scrunched in confusion- why should he be thanked? At the man's expression, Molly sighed. "For how smart you are, you do miss a few things."

Caleb frowned further, but then Molly had leaned in, and soft lips were brushing his. _Oh._ Caleb thought, and his eyes closed. His hands moved of their own accord, and rested at Molly's hips. It was chaste, and soft, and sweet- and Caleb could smell the orange Molly had eaten on their way back to the inn from the tavern.

And then Molly pulled away. "You should get to bed." He hummed softly, brushing Caleb's hair back with his fingers. Caleb was busy trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Molly turned to Caleb's room, and saw a note stuck to the door. Curious, he pulled it off, and opened it.

_Caleb,_

_Don't worry, Nott got really drunk, but we stopped her before she got really really drunk. Anyway, Nott's staying with me and Beau and Yasha. We left before you and Molly did, so don't worry about us. Fjord is also very drunk and snoring really loudly. So, Nott won't be in your room tonight, which means you have the room all to yourself._

_Love,_ _Jester_

In the bottom corner, Jester had drawn two dicks very close together, framed by a heart. 

Molly snorted at her bluntness, and tried to keep his laugh contained. Molly looked back at Caleb, who seemed to finally be registering what had happened. "Jester left a note for you." He said, and passed it on. He watched as Caleb read it, and knew exactly when the other man had caught on because his face blushed heavily.

"Am I saying goodnight now, or later?" Molly asked with a smirk and a slightly raised eyebrow.

Caleb looked between the note, Molly, and the door. After a few moments of this, he reached for the door to his room. Momentarily, Molly's heart sunk. That was before Caleb opened the door, stepped inside, and pulled Molly in after him. After Caleb closed the door, Molly was left grinning.

Molly leaned in to kiss him, but Caleb held up a single finger in a 'wait' gesture. He then pointed Molly to one of the beds, and began with his silver thread. Molly, smiling softly, took off his coat and hung it up before he sat down. Then he laid down on his back, and began to take off his boots. _Thunk._ One hit the floor. A few seconds later it accompanied by a second _thunk._

Caleb finished and turned around to see Molly flirtatiously lounging. If Caleb had any sense of self-preservation, he lost it a few minutes ago. From the opposite side of the room as Molly, Caleb shrugged off his coat, and tugged off his boots as he crossed the room. His lips crashed into Molly's.

Caleb tasted the orange Molly had eaten, and next time, he'd have to accept the slice the tiefling offered him. Molly faintly tasted licorice, and honey, and he wasn't sure if the two flavors went together, but it was _Caleb,_ and it was perfect.

Molly grinned against Caleb's lips, and flipped them over. "Wha-" Caleb began, but was quickly silenced as Molly kissed him again, and whispered a 'shh' against his lips. Molly left Caleb's lips in favor of trailing kisses down Caleb's neck, from the space below his ear down to where the collar of Caleb's shirt covered. Molly pulled away and looked down at Caleb with a questioning gaze.

Caleb sat up, with Molly practically over his lap, and had the hem of his shirt in his hands before Molly snatched them away and did the job himself. Caleb returned the sentiment, and relieved Molly of his shirt as well. Molly lightly laughed as he pushed Caleb back to the bed, and continued his path of kisses.

~~~~~~

In the morning, Caleb found himself waking with the sunrise. There was a slight stirring beside him, and Molly nestled his face further into the crook of Caleb's neck, tail tightening it's grip around their intertwined legs. Caleb's hand rested on Molly's shoulder, and he gently began to trace the tattoos that adorned Molly's skin.

"Mmm." Molly hummed after some time.

"Guten morgen." Caleb said softly.

Molly smiled in his sleepy morning haze. "Are you tracing my tattoos?" He mumbled.

"Ja. Would you like me to stop?" Caleb asked.

Molly hummed. "Feels nice."

Caleb continued to trace. "We should get up soon. Our friends will be getting breakfast."

"Your accent is thicker." Molly noted.

"Ja, I- I did not notice. Does it bother you?" Caleb frowned.

"No, I like it." Molly replied.

They were peaceful for a few more minutes, before Molly's stomach growled. Molly whined. "But I'm comfy..."

Caleb smiled. "Go, eat. I will be down shortly."

Molly disentangled himself from Caleb and sat up, stretching. Caleb admired how his muscles moved, and how the tattoos, though strange, seemed to belong exactly where they'd been placed. Molly slipped out of bed, and sorted through the clothes as he found them. Only once he'd found all of his own did he actually put them on. Caleb didn't complain, and Molly felt quite pleased with himself because _of course he noticed._

Before Molly left the room, he slipped over and gave Caleb a gentle, chaste kiss. Then, with one hand on the doorknob, he looked back at Caleb. "We're doing that again, right?"

Caleb blinked. "I-I- Ja, that is what I...?"

Molly nodded. "Good, good." He hesitated. "Do you want the others to know?"

Caleb frowned. "Not, not yet. I'd like to enjoy this with some peace, for now."

"Okay." Molly said, and slipped out.

Molly listened at the door to his and Fjord's room, and hearing snores, slipped inside. He went over to his bed, and rustled the sheets to seem like he'd slept in them, and made enough noise pretending to dress himself that Fjord would notice enough to grumble and roll over. Then he slipped downstairs, and ordered breakfast.

~~~~~~

Two months later, and they hadn't yet been discovered. Whatever god granted them that miracle, deserved to be worshiped. That night, he and Caleb had talked, and come to the conclusion that if the team found out, they found out. They weren't going to go to extreme lengths to hide it. Molly was tired of the bullshit excuses, and he had good reason to believe that Caleb was too. 

The white lies they'd used were getting a bit ridiculous, while also somehow working. Molly wondered if the Traveler was helping them, only to see the chaos that would come when the others found out. It was becoming a more believable theory every time a lie worked.

Because of that, Molly was sure Beau thought he occasionally worked at a brothel, and that Caleb wrote poorly written smut that no-one would ever see, even over his dead body.

Molly and Caleb didn't think their dignity would survive much more of this.

One morning, they were all eating breakfast when Jester's jaw suddenly dropped. _"Caleb!"_ she gasped, as though scandalized.

"What?" Caleb, Fjord, and Nott all asked at the same time.

 _"Is that a hickey?"_ She questioned, staring at a spot on Caleb's neck.

The table erupted into chaos. Nott scrabbled into Caleb's lap and turned his head away so she could get a good look. Fjord was leaning so far from his chair that he might fall out of it. Beau was at one side of Caleb, and Jester on the other. Yasha was watching with an amused expression as she ate, and Molly was calmly observing and eating beside her.

"That. Is. A. Hickey." Beau proclaimed.

"Sit down, please. You are drawing attention." Caleb asked of his companions.

Beau and Jester exchanged mischievous glances, and Nott narrowed her eyes as they took their seats.

"So." Beau said, looking at Caleb.

"So?" Caleb returned.

"You got a hickey." Beau said.

"I did." Caleb nodded, returning to his plate with hope that he could eat it before it got cold.

"'Cmon, man, you gotta give us more than that!" Beau said, throwing her hands in the air.

"I don't see why I do." Caleb replied after swallowing.

"Where'd you get it?" Jester asked in her conspiratorial sing-song voice.

"Upstairs." Caleb answered, taking a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Upstairs? You mean, here, upstairs?"

"You didn't go to a... You know?"

"Beau, Jester, give him some space." Fjord tried to help the poor wizard out.

"Sshh!" Jester nudged Fjord with her elbow.

"What even is your type?" Beau asked, suddenly feeling like she had no idea who this man was. They didn't see Molly grin as he ate his eggs. Yasha, though, narrowed an eye at him.

"My type?" Caleb frowned.

"Yeah, your type. What kind of people you like." Jester said. "Like, girls with big boobs, or little boobs. Or butt. Or boys! Tall boys-"

"Jester, Jester, we get the idea." Fjord tried.

Caleb wrinkled his nose. "I do not have a type."

"Whaaat?" Beau said, disbelievingly. "You have to have a type. Me, I go for girls."

"We already knew that, Beau. It's kind of really obvious." Jester said.

"Oh. I uh, I was just trying to give an example, you know." Beau said.

Jester nodded. "Well, we can find out what his type is. Caleb, who gave you the hickey?"

Caleb didn't reply. 

"I did." Molly chirped, toast in hand.

Simultaneously, five things happened:

Yasha looked between the two, and smiled.

Fjord sprayed milk across the table, having accidentally taken from Jester's cup instead of his own due to second-hand embarrassment.

Jester gasped, and then squealed, very loudly.

Beau suddenly felt things click into place, and felt like an idiot for not putting things together sooner.

Nott jumped and stood on her seat, pointing at the two of them. "You two?" She demanded in that screeching, surprised tone.

The wizard nodded. "Us two." He agreed.

"How- How long has this been a thing?" Fjord asked, his head swiveling from side to side to see them both.

"Oh, nearly two months now." Molly commented.

"Two months?" Beau said to herself.

"Then, back when I left that note on the door..." Jester trailed off suggestively.

Molly grinned devilishly at her, and she screeched in excitement.

"You two have just been sleeping together without any of us noticin'?" Fjord asked, bewildered.

"Oh, there were plenty times we nearly got caught. Came up with most _ridiculous_ excuses you'd ever hear in your life." Molly grinned.

"You don't work at a brothel?" Beau caught on.

"No!" Molly laughed.

"Hold up." Fjord held up a hand, and looked directly at Beau. "You thought he worked at a brothel?"

"He was _covered_ in hickeys, what was I supposed to think?" Beau demanded.

"Not that he worked in a brothel?" Fjord suggested.

"Guys guys guys guys guys guys guys!" Jester demanded from the group. There was enough of a quiet that she got to say her next words softer than normal volume. "If Molly was absolutely _covered_ in hickeys..." She pointedly looked to Caleb, who's face was incredibly red and who was intently focused on his breakfast in front of him.

The table started shouting again. However, when Yasha rose, they all went dead silent. The barbarian calmly walked around to the other side of the table, and stopped by Caleb. She didn't say anything, but gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and gave a light kiss to his forehead. After giving a slight squeeze that didn't hurt him, she continued around the table back to her spot. As she sat down, she pat Molly on the back and gave him his own forehead kiss.

That was Yasha saying she approved. Which had the couple relieved, because that left one other person they had to be worried about.

Nott glared at Molly. "If you hurt him..."

"You have acid and you know where I sleep?" Molly suggested.

"That. And I have exploding arrows." Nott added.

Molly raised an eyebrow. "Well, good thing I'm not planning on hurting him."

Nott nodded, and went back to her breakfast.

The conversation over breakfast lasted so long that they had to order lunch as well. They were supposed to leave right after the morning meal. Even though they were technically behind on schedule now, Molly and Caleb were just glad that they didn't have to hide. 

It was new though. Caleb wasn't used to Molly giving him affections in public. The tiefling would rest a hand on his back, sling an arm over his shoulders, hold his hand, small kisses. Caleb had gotten used to Molly when it was just the two of them, but it was different around other people. 

At first, Caleb thought he would have felt shy or embarrassed. Then he quickly realized that while yes, he was, he was also proud. _Yes, I have someone. Yes, this beautiful man is mine. Yes, I am loved._

It took him a while to fully realize that Molly felt the same way. That he liked showing off to Caleb, and showing Caleb off to others.

Molly felt anchored to the world. He was anchored to Caleb, to life.

And Caleb found a reason to take care of himself. To be able to wake up in the morning to warm tiefling snuggles and that coat hanging beside his.


End file.
